About 70 Things That Could Make The Next Thief Game the Greatest

A while back I did a list of the things that would make STALKER the perfect game. Well, I think now is the time to come up with a list of things that could make the next Thief the perfect game, and a worthy sequel. Hell, why not the best in the series?

• Bring back the sword from TDP and TMA. I think a short sword would be more fitting for a thief, so you still stand a bit of a chance in a sword fight.
• Still have the dagger for silent kills and other uses, perhaps like cutting ropes and so on.
• Bring back the rope arrows which were missing from TDS.
• When a guard or somebody gets shot with a broadhead arrow, the arrow actually sticks out of them, and it affects them realistically.
• A person might eventually die of blood loss depending on where they are hit with a weapon or arrow.
• More realistic amount of arrows in a quiver.
• If you pull the arrow out of a body for reuse, there’s a chance the head of the arrow might break off, prompting you to reattach another head, or else rendering it unusable. If the head doesn’t break off, you can use it again.
• More arrow types, like the bodkin arrow. This penetrates armour, where a normal broadhead wouldn’t.
• When it comes to picking locks, you have a mini game similar to TDS or Oblivion, but there’s an option like in Oblivion and Fallout 3 to autopick the lock. This would mean though that you have to spend some of your hard earned loot in order to achieve this if it’s a buyout option. Or else there’s a chance that the lock might break if you force it.
• You might be able to find an autopick device, likely made by either the Keepers, the Hammerites or even the Mechanists, in the game which would pick the lock. It’s one use - much like the icepick or autohack device from System Shock 2, or BioShock 2, respectively.
• Swordfights are more realistic, with cuts, and wounds, possibly decapitations. This would mean a lot of blood though and require plenty of water arrows to clear up.
• Guards and so on are much more likely to react to things that are amiss – like open doors, missing loot, etc.
• You can take objects that are similar in appearance and replace missing items – much like The Eye from TDP. This would minimize the chance of someone noticing something missing – at least for a while, until perhaps it’s inspected more closely. Perhaps some characters like nobles would notice, but guards who generally have no appreciation for art and such, wouldn’t. This idea is inspired by the museum level in TDS.
• Guards that are knocked out via blackjack will eventually wake up during a mission, and might start searching for you too. They are also much more likely to stay alert for longer.
• Bring back all the potions, tools and so on from Thief 2, that were missing from TDS. That means the speed potion, the slowfall potion, breath potion, the invisibility potion, and the scouting orb, as well as the vine arrow and rope arrow.
• New potions and the like might make an appearance too. I’m thinking of something similar to Cateye from Fallout: New Vegas, which would allow you to see more clearly in pitch black areas when needed, when flares are just not subtle enough.

Features that were good in TDS:

1. Wall hugging feature.
2. Full body awareness.

Things that sucked in TDS:

1. Not able to swim in deep water.
2. No rope arrows.

• Bring in the grease arrow from the Oblivion mod, Thieves Arsenal. Grease arrows are broadhead arrows with a flammable liquid such as oil in a pouch on the tip. They can be used to make surfaces slippery, or to lay traps to set alight with a fire source.
  Bring in the arrow variants from T2X, like the flare arrow, confusion arrows, ice arrows, and combustion arrows.
• Confusion arrow: These are generated by pagan shamans, just like vine arrows, and they are used to discombobulate enemies, making them less likely to attack, flee, or attack one another. They contain plant spores that infect the person temporarily.
• Ice arrow: These are very rare and typically only exist in colder climates. They are water crystals that have frozen. They can be used to freeze opponents and objects as well as water. They can be used to create slippery patches of ground.
• Flare arrow: These are arrows with a flare on the end. They can be used to light up areas or as a distraction. They can also be used to keep the undead and other creatures at bay.
• Bring back some of those terrifying Hammerite voices from the first game: “Next time, mine hammer shall smash thee!” That character nearly made me drop a log.
• Bring back, oh bring back, oh bring back my bonny to me, to me…
• Combustion Arrows: These are highly dangerous arrows. They are made up of arrows coated in flammable substances like oil and gunpowder, pitch, bitumen or resin and aimed at fire sources.
• Poison arrows: These are basically broadhead arrows with a poison coating on the tip. Unlike broadheads that are unlikely to kill if an enemy is hit in the extremities, poison arrows will, and one is enough. This could be a hybrid arrow – a mix between a man-made and pagan design. Depending on the dose of poison on the arrowhead, a guard could be rendered unconscious or killed.
• EMP bomb/arrow: This is when water arrows won’t do. They serve to short out electrical and steam powered devices, like lamps and anything that doesn’t operate off of a flame.
• Pockets sewn into the pants and cuirass allow you to carry more items.
• Backpack: padded compartment sewn into the back of the cuirass allows you to store more items.
• Loot bag/sack: This is a padded bag that will not jiggle around or damage the contents when carried. Also allows more items to be carried.
• Tool belt which can be used for tools, weapons and items.
• Cloak has pockets sewn in on the inside for storing things.
• Light gem could actually be hung around player’s neck, worn on the arm, or carried as an item by Garrett, and would have to be selected and held to view how dim or bright it was. Sort of like in Metro 2033, how Artyom has to look at his watch to see how much time he has before a filter on his gasmask expires, or in the unreleased mod for Half-Life 2, They Hunger: Lost Souls, when the player looks at his watch to see how much health he has left.
• ^ Same goes for the compass.

• When you blackjack a person, you’re able to catch them before they hit the ground so as not to let the falling body make a sound. The sound of falling bodies can alert guards or people nearby.
• You can use the environment and weather to your advantage, like being able to attack someone during a thunderstorm, and people will be less likely to hear what's going on.
• Garrett can use other things as a distraction, other than the noisemakers. Noisemakers will distract enemies for longer, but rocks on the ground will suffice for a quick distraction when thrown.
• In addition to eating food to regain limited health, Garrett can also drink fresh water for some much needed, but few, health points. This is for critical situations when you’re out of health potions.
• Garrett might even decide to delve into the wine collection but this would have an adverse effect on control and the like.
• Garrett might be able to, in some missions, dress up as a member of a faction to blend in, much like he did in The Dark Project, when he posed as a Hammerite Novice.
• Cloak that Garrett wore in TDP and TMA could make a return, and this time possess some abilities. Maybe it’s able to keep the player hidden for longer in lighter areas, or able to store more things.
• Maybe the game has a weight limit that could be switched on for more hardcore play. It could vary according to base difficulty.
• Perhaps due to the weight limit, if you can’t carry something, then you’ll be able to go back to said place and get the rest of the loot which you might have had the foresight to stash somewhere. But be prepared for heightened security!
• Certain items like the backpack, pockets, tool belt, and cloak are acquired over time allowing you to carry more items and loot. They’re bought with money that you’ve gotten after fencing goods, or else unlocked after a side mission is completed.

• Get a full map of the city this time, to save us poor idiots having to guess where everything is in relation to the story.
• You can make notes like you could in the original Thief games.
• Be able to explore all areas of the city in the game, and perhaps areas outside of it, like neighbouring territories like Blackbrook.
• Bring back the cinematics and so on from the original Thief games.
• Side missions in addition to the main missions like in Thief Deadly Shadows, but more of them, and make it so you’re more aware you’re on a side mission, like Mass Effect 2, and not just stumbling around grabbing a bit of loot. More reward for completing them – like getting items that you wouldn’t otherwise get, and money as a reward, perhaps from someone who gives you the mission. This would save a trip to the fence on the other side of the city just to fence goods and get gold.
• You can rob most houses in between missions, instead of just the one house over and over.
• Bigger levels, more like the original Thief games.
• More characters that Garrett knows from previous games, like Basso the Boxman, etc.

• You’re able to swim, like in the first games.
• You’re able to hide bodies more effectively - such as putting them in barrels or crates - rather than just dumping them in a dark corner somewhere. This should help avoid the bodies being stumbled upon (literally).
• Being able to set traps or use items around you to your advantage, much like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
• Events such as this – someone falling prey to one of your traps or something that looks like an accident – will create a distraction as people nearby gather around to see what all the fuss is about, allowing you to slip past unnoticed.
• Guards will sound the alarm if they see someone with a “hole in his back”, but will just be more concerned and not sound the alarm, if they come across someone who seemingly “tripped and fell down the stairs”.
• Garrett might even be able to poison food or drink so that when someone eats it, they are either rendered unconscious or they die.
• Don’t bring back the blue/purple mist from TDS. When entering another area it just gets darker and darker until a notification comes up telling you that you’re going to another area, and it gives you the chance to turn back if you wish.
• The player can stand, run, walk and crouch like before. But in addition to this, you can go prone, and lie completely flat on the ground. You can move in this way too, like a crawl, and although it would be slower, you’re even less likely to be seen.

• Some more Thieves' Highway, or rooftop based missions like T2’s “Life of the Party”.
• More mention of happenings from the previous games in the series. TDS practically ignored those of T2 and maybe T1 as well.
• Perfect the mantling ability. I’m told that The Dark Mod did it quite well.
• Keep the wall hugging feature from TDS.
• Keep the full body awareness from TDS.
• In addition to having full body awareness (being able to see your torso and legs in addition to arms and hands, you also see your hands grasp levers and fingers pressing buttons.
• Able to do a split climb like in Splinter Cell on walls in a narrow passageway (one foot on each wall).
• Climbing gloves from TDS could still feature, but won’t replace rope or vine arrows this time. Climbing gloves are used for stone walls and structures; rope arrows for wood, and vine arrows for wood and metal grates.
• Do not put the game in a modern setting, much like the fools behind the Assassin’s Creed series are contemplating. If you do, then it’ll be a spin-off series, but not Thief.

• The game’s story could perhaps include a look into the events that happened before TDP, which was outlined quite nicely in some fan-fiction tales such as “A Keeper’s Apprentice”, and “A Thief’s Apprentice”.
• Garrett might be able to hack devices with the appropriate skill. These could include mechanist devices such as watchers or turrets. After years of studying mechanist schematics, he has a working knowledge of how some of their devices work. It would be very hard to hack these things successfully. It’s noisy and would attract the attention of guards. That and if you fail to hack the device, the alarm would be set off.
• A successful hack would mean that the watchers and turrets would be turned against the guards or whoever else is around, and any defence mechanisms would be engaged to eliminate them.
• The game would feature different savegame strategies. On the easier difficulties, you would be able to save any time you want; slightly harder difficulty might give you less saves to use; harder still will give you checkpoints set by the game, and then the hardest difficulty level would mean no saves during a mission at all. Maybe even one mode would not even save your progress throughout the game from level to level, forcing you to play through the game in one sitting. And this is familiar to those in the know as Iron Man Thief.
• Perhaps a multiplayer mode of the game would focus on speedrunning, with online leaderboards and such, with the fastest playthrough of a mission being the goal. You could choose to either have other people like guards in the mission, or take them out, so it plays more like the Mirror’s Edge time trials.
• Take some cues from the Assassin’s Creed or Mirror’s Edge games to perhaps add to the control of Garrett, as well as allowing one to engage in parkour or freerunning activity more easily.

Most of you probably didn't read through all of that, but if you're here and you've taken the time to do so - then well done, young Garrett.

Well, that's all I can think of so far. You might not agree with all of those suggestions, and you may very well have some of your own. Feel free to add them in the comments below, and they might even be included in the list above at some point.